CHICAGO — Michael Del Zotto was a surprise late scratch from the Rangers’ 4-3 loss to the Blackhawks on Friday night at the United Center. The team said it was because of an unspecified injury, most probably the right hip that was originally hurt when he was pushed into a goal post by the Sabres’ Patrick Kaleta on Feb. 25.

Del Zotto was seen by The Post playing his regular game of friendly soccer in the hallway before the Rangers took the ice, and for a couple of minutes, he didn’t show any discomfort.

His absence made for a third defensive pairing of Steve Eminger and Anton Stralman, playing 12:55 and 17:44 respectively.

It was the second time Del Zotto was scratched in the past five games, the other being March 2 against the Devils.

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Though still scoreless, the Rangers’ power play started to show some minor signs of life. It went 0-for-2 with 4:00 minutes total time, but did manage to register six shots.

“We had some chances [and] shot the puck,” coach John Tortorella said. “We had a couple really good chances that just didn’t go in. That’s been much better the past few.”

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Because the Rangers had scored two goals in their two previous games, Tortorella figured he needed to do something to spark a bit of offense against Chicago. So he went back to the early-season pairing of Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards on a top line, this time paired with rookie Carl Hagelin.

They didn’t produce until there were 41 seconds left in the game, when Richards got his 19th goal of the year, assisted by Hagelin and Gaborik.

“We haven’t scored goals, so we put them together,” Tortorella said.

Tortorella’s second line consisted of Artem Anisimov, Derek Stepan and Ryan Callahan. The bottom two stayed the same.

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Brandon Dubinsky missed his second straight game because of hand and nose injuries, though he did skate Friday morning. It’s unclear if he will be available for the Rangers’ upcoming seven-game homestand, which starts Sunday against the Islanders.